


Unfortunate Relations

by snidgetsong



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Broken Families, Gen, Muggle Life, Slytherin Pride, Teenage Drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-28
Updated: 2015-06-28
Packaged: 2018-04-06 13:39:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4223757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snidgetsong/pseuds/snidgetsong
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dolores has to choose a parent as well as a way of life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unfortunate Relations

**Author's Note:**

> Written for hh_sugarquill's writer's block challenge: use the quote "You can't stop me!"

"Why haven't you packed? You know we're leaving first thing in the morning. Honestly, why would you wait until the last minute?"

Dolores's insides twisted into a knot at the idea of leaving. Father might be practically a layabout, but at least he was _special_ like her. Mum was nothing but a Muggle. How would moving away with a Muggle and a Squib sibling help her? No way was that happening.

She smoothed her bedding making it just so, fluffed her pillows and adjusted the ruffles. Dolores always tidied when she was angry. Better to look fastidious than show her resentment and earn another lecture on ladylike propriety. 

"I'm not leaving. I'm staying with Father." Her mother dabbed her eyes with her dirty, crumpled handkerchief. Did she really think that weeping was going to change anything? 

"Dolores, please. If you stay, I'll lose you."

She sniffed haughtily. Losing these unfortunate relations sounded like the best thing that could happen to her. Everyone knew that being pure-blood was best, not that a Muggle could understand. She shook her head. "I'm staying with Father and I'm finishing Hogwarts."

"Dolores! Think about this. You'll learn nothing about the real world. All you talk about these days is being a Slytherin. It's not healthy to be so fixated on a school house."

She'd had enough. Some people just wouldn't accept the truth unless it was driven home hard. "I'm staying with Father!" She grabbed the tiny ballerina figurine her mother had given her for her tenth birthday and threw it against the floor. "You can't stop me!"

Pieces of porcelain scattered everywhere, and she heard a shocked gasp from across the room. This was the moment when everything should change. Would her mother walk away? 

The gentle click of her bedroom door closing was all the answer she needed. Dolores threw herself onto the bed and sobbed into her pillow. She wouldn't miss them. _She wouldn't._ It had to be this way because magic was her _life_ —it made her special. Tomorrow she'd begin living like a proper pure-blood, and she wouldn't miss them at all. She wouldn't.


End file.
